The King has died, and the city of Korvosa is in chaos! Riots, banditry, monsters, and mayhem are turning the normally safe streets of the city into a war zone. Desperate to regain control of her city, Queen Ileosa seeks heroes to aid her in reclaiming control before the largest city in all Varisia consumes itself from within as Curse of the Crimson Throne begins with a bang!
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Pathfinder Legends are full-cast audio plays produced jointly by Paizo and Big Finish, and they're available both on CD and via download. This week, I listened to the CD for Edge of Anarchy, the first chapter of the Curse of the Crimson Throne set. I thought it was fantastic! A couple of years back, I listened to the Pathfinder Legends version of Rise of the Runelords and thought it was pretty good but pricey given the length; I think criticisms like that were taken to heart, because at least this chapter of Curse of the Crimson Throne is almost twice as long. The voice acting continues to be spot-on (Valeros cracks me up), and the writer of the adaptation really understood all of the little nuances of the AP. There are some differences, but they're honestly all improvements--I wish I had known and used some of them when I ran the first chapter of the AP last year! Although sometimes the action scenes are still hard to follow (since there's no narrator), the professional music and sound effects keep things moving. I'll go into more detail below, but the general takeaway is that this one is well worth the purchase.
The physical CD is a two-disc set with full-colour liner notes featuring cast credits and little introductions to the four Iconics that stand in for the PCs. In Chapter One, these four are Merisiel, Valeros, Ezren, and Harsk. The running time is given as 110 minutes, which sounds about right--there's not the super-lengthy filler music that was so annoying in Rise of the Runelords.
SPOILERS!:
In this section, I'll talk about some of the interesting similarities and differences to the story as presented in the original AP. The big plot points of the AP are tracked fairly closely by the audio play, and even some of the side encounters (like the street preacher of Groetus and the trouble with imps) are incorporated. There's also some smart little name-drops of NPCs like Glorio Arkona, Zenobia Zenderholm, and others that will become important in later chapters. However, a few key scenes are different, and there's an emphasis on some subplots over others.
One big difference right off the bat is that, since the protagonists are Iconics and already have backstories, no one has a personal connection to Gaedren Lamm. Instead, they're in Korvosa because Kyra (the Iconic Cleric) is missing after coming to the city to investigate reports that a cult of Urgathoa was operating in it (foreshadowing!). But things get back on track as Zellara summons the Iconics in the same way, offering to help them find Kyra if they deal with Gaedren Lamm. An elegant solution.
When the Iconics return to Zellara after bringing Lamm to justice, she tells them to "follow the broach." This is a clever way to highlight the importance of the object which logically leads the party to the queen, rather than the risk in the original AP that the party might never realise its importance. The initial encounter with the queen is something I really wish I had done: she is completely overwrought, sobbing, and the listener feels real sympathy for her--so the later reveal of her cruelty and treachery have some real impact. In addition, Sabina Merrin gets a major role in Chapter 1 as the one that organises the Iconics' missions. The relationship between her and the queen is given a lot of attention, and even a scene where the Iconics aren't present. It's great, and something I wasn't really able to accomplish while running the campaign.
Highlighting Sabina does have a cost, however, as Field Marshal Kroft (the main liaison for the PCs in the AP) barely appears in the audio play. On the other hand, Vencarlo Orisini is used to great effect, and I love a new scene where we witness him and Sabina having a verbal duel. It really brings out their shared backstory.
The big Trinia Sabor chase seen is exciting, and culminates in the Iconics accidentally chasing her right into the clutches of Sabina. This sets up the climactic execution scene where Blackjack appears. He has a fun cockney accent, and I like how the Iconics help the rescue in small ways (Ezren makes duplicate Blackjacks to confuse the guards, Harsk sets chickens loose, and so forth). I think Blackjack may be grooming Merisiel as his replacement, so I'll be interested to see how that develops in future chapters (and if Kyra shows up).
I have consistently enjoyed the Legends series of audio dramas and Edge of Anarchy is no exception. The production is top-notch, and the familiar voices of the iconics continue to invoke the adventure in my mind with their characterizations.
I might have wished for some shorter musical interludes (such at on Disc 1, Track 1), and I echo the other reviewer that it does feel like the story was abbreviated somewhat. The length clocks in at about 2 hours, but it feels like a notable chunk of that is solely music. Not that I don't like the music - but, again, there are a lot of places where it goes on for what feels like minutes or so.
I also had some issues with the Queen, but not from overacting - but simply from her vocalizations. Her voice reminded me of an older, middle-aged woman - not the young lady who manipulated a king to marry him and gain a throne. I'm willing to chalk that up to personal preference, however.
On the whole, however, even my nitpicks can't stop me from enjoying the story. Looking forward already to the next one!
GOOD:
It´s much clearer to the listener what happens in the fight scenes opposed to Rise of the Runelords. The voice actors work well together.
BAD:
Too much overacting, especially from the Queen.
Too much loud background music.
The lenght is 110 minutes (two music tracks included) but could have been 150 minutes for the price of $22.
UGLY:
With 2 CDs you would think that there are more story elements from the AP included, but the opposite is the case: There is much less story included but endless talking between the 4 Iconics and NPCs.
There are three fight scenes only!
The trailer for this is actually better than the CD itself, because you can understand the Harrow reading. On the CD it´s fast forwarded and with added sound effects that make it hard to understand.
I have bought all six Rise of the Runelords CDs and like them, the only things i don´t like about them: you can´t always identify what happenes in the fight scenes (the lack of a narrator is a mistake imo) and that a lot of story elements had to be cut to fit on one CD.
I don´t like the "Mummy´s Mask" AP, so i didn´t buy those CDs.
Now that i have heard the first double CD of CotCT, i have to say that i like the RotR CDs MUCH better!
Not only are they more entertaining, but there is more crammed into them than into this.
Maybe i´ll give the second CD a try, but if it is as boring as this one i won´t follow the line anymore.
What a great idea to have CotCT as the next audio adventure!
While i didn´t yet listen to Mummy´s Mask, the trailer sounds a lot better than the Rise of the Runelords audio plays (they were good but not great), especially the Harrow reading idea is cool.
Gonna buy this one.
The same four that have been featured in the past two series: Ezren, Harsk, Merisiel, and Valeros. The trailer does mention a "Kyra", but that's probably just a coincidence.
Glad I spotted the pre-order tab - I've been hoping for a third story, but couldn't work out how to find out for sure. CotCT has a great storyline running through the 6 parts (and presumably the hardback) so with any luck this should be up to the standard of the first two. Roll on 2017!
The same four that have been featured in the past two series: Ezren, Harsk, Merisiel, and Valeros. The trailer does mention a "Kyra", but that's probably just a coincidence.
The same four that have been featured in the past two series: Ezren, Harsk, Merisiel, and Valeros. The trailer does mention a "Kyra", but that's probably just a coincidence.
Sounds like Merisiel is looking for Kyra. Perhaps the Lost Love background trait from the AP? I hate that this comes out after my first session. Like a week late. Do we know the release date of the subscription of this? Or is it the Late Jan street date?
That's definitely a glitch - I'd email customer.service@paizo.com or start a thread in the CS forum. My CD has arrived, plus I've had access to the download for a while.
Steve - I believe subscribers who get the CD also get the download version earlier than the download-only subscribers. That said - I had expected the download earlier than today - which is when it appeared.
The download was also available directly from Big Finish at the latest by last Thursday.
Perhaps download-only subscribers get it later than regular subscribers. I don't necessarily mind - but I would like to know so I'm not expecting it before it's actually released.
In any case - it's released today, and I've downloaded it. I've enjoyed all of the others, so I can't wait to listen to this one!
The fulfillment processes on digital-only and physical+digital subscriptions are relatively independent from one another, so one won't necessarily always be processed before the other.
The fulfillment processes on digital-only and physical+digital subscriptions are relatively independent from one another, so one won't necessarily always be processed before the other.
Vic - I appreciate the response. I think what I'm asking for is a more precise release timeframe other than "January" - which, typically means sometime between mid-month and month-end. But that's more of an irritation than a gamestopper for me.
